Your wedding guests go to a lot of effort and expense to attend your wedding. They have travel expenses, wedding attire and jewelry, the gift, and so forth. Let them know how much you appreciate them by making sure that they feel welcome at your event. From the hotel to the ceremony to the reception, these are some ideas on how to greet your wedding guests with a warm welcome.
Your first chance to welcome your guests to your wedding is when they arrive at their hotel. The chances are that you will be way too busy to hang out in the lobby and greet each guest personally as they arrive, so you will want to make arrangements with the hotel to provide a gracious welcome to your wedding. There are a couple of ways that you can do this. One is to have wedding welcome bags, filled with everything from local delicacies to luxe lotions to details on the wedding weekend events. The front desk can hand a welcome bag to each of your wedding guests as they arrive, or the bags can be placed in each guest's room as a special surprise.
An alternative to the wedding welcome bag or basket is a wedding welcome packet. These packets include information on the weekend schedule of events, such as the times for the ceremony, reception, and day-after brunch. In addition, you can include maps and suggestions for local activities and landmarks for your guests to explore. These packets can be handed out at the front desk as guests check in, or you can make up a really cute packet designed to hang on the door of each guest's hotel room.
When your guests arrive at your wedding ceremony, you want to immediately make them feel comfortable. Depending on your ceremony location, there are a variety of ways to do this. One of the biggest new trends in weddings is to offer some sort of pre-ceremony refreshments to welcome guests as they arrive. This can be as simple as cold bottles of water for an outdoor wedding (you could dress them up with custom labels) to as elaborate as a mini cocktail hour. If you are looking for something in between, you can't go wrong with having a waiter circulating with trays of Champagne or prosecco to greet your guests.
For outdoor or theme weddings, the welcome for your guests can be a bit more involved. Couples who are having beach weddings will find that nothing says, "relax and have a good time at our wedding" quite like a basket of flip flops for guests to slip into. Make it even better by setting up a shelf where guests can stash their regular shoes. If you are having a tropical wedding, get your guests into the spirit by greeting them with beautiful floral leis. Designate a family member or a groomsman to place a lei around the neck of each guest as they arrive for your ceremony (instruct him to be careful not to snag any of the female guests' hair or wedding jewelry).
Be sure to give your guests an equally hearty welcome when they arrive at your reception. Trays of Champagne or a signature cocktail by the door they will enter is a perfect way to show your hospitality. Your guests will appreciate all the effort that you have put into making them feel welcome and comfortable, and it will get your party off to a wonderful start.
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